Chapter 204: Now we move
The rest of the day was used to set up the trees. They hacked them with their swords and then freed them of branches before they tried to cut them up and then joined them with thin logs to make the wall.
Azaroth waited until it was almost dark out and the sun was dying for the day before he gestured at Catena. "Why don’t you just use your technique to make a wall?"
Catena, who was also helping with the trees, froze. He looked up at him with bright eyes and accused, "Why didn’t you remind me of this earlier?"
Azaroth shrugged. "This is also a way for the warriors to pass the rest of the day. Besides, you have cleared the trees several feet back, which is good for this camp."
Catena growled and muttered something about Azaroth and his behavior. Stallus also sighed and face-palmed herself for not thinking about it earlier. She changed her orders, though. "Don’t throw the cut trees away. At least not all of them. Store some inside and we’ll find a use for them."
The warriors tried their possible best not to glare at Azaroth. It was a day full of labor, as each tree was big and wide with strong trunks. Even Blac was surprised that he didn’t think of it or that Azaroth had simply kept them working like that.
Azaroth just shrugged about it all and waited until they either threw away the used trees or packed the rest inside. Then he told them they would have to construct a door for the wall that Catena would create.
That set off another round of groaning.
Catena crouched in front of the cave and then placed his palm on the moist ground. He sent essence into his formation and activated earth manipulation. "I’ll have to use my core dry for this one."
The first thing he did was harden the ground several feet around himself. The moist, soft ground compressed and hardened under the influence of his skill, and then when it was hard enough, he stood up.
This was the difficult part because his imagination played a crucial role now. But Catena was steady as a horse, and so with patience, he began to shape the hardened earth.
The warriors gathered around to watch him; it’s not every time they saw the use of a skill that wasn’t trying to kill them. By the time Catena was done, torches were lit and it was dark.
He grinned at the wall in satisfaction because unlike just using earth for attack, manipulating it for something like this takes skill and concentration.
The wall was thick and shaped like a funnel, wide at the base and narrow at the entrance with the top closed off. It looked less like a wall and more like a type of earth shield with an opening. There were a few sloping slits where those on watch could observe what was happening outside without taking arrows to the face.
Catena was sweating hard and his core was near empty, or would be if he were still at the Initiate level, but as it was, he hardly felt it. He pretended he was empty. He said, "You can just do a simple wooden door. At the very least, you should be able to defend this. It’ll even take a few direct Initiate attacks. It’s that thick."
The warriors cheered him, and the Captains began to issue orders to those in charge of the door and those who were working to make the inside a presentable camp.
It didn’t take long for them to construct a door and lock it from the inside while guards were set at the slit openings.
That night Azaroth and the others spoke about their next move, and after dinner they slept. The warriors were more than happy to have something covering their heads, and it didn’t take long for the snoring to start.
The next morning, Blac was feeling the cold penetrate his cloak, and he resisted a shiver. He was standing outside, and he pulled bits of darkness towards himself. It was enough to keep him warm. He said, "Are we really going now? Can’t we wait till it’s properly morning?"
Azaroth and the others just stared at the man. They had made their decision to hunt, and there was nothing that was going to stop them, not even the sun’s inability to rise faster.
Stallus just shook her head. "No need. We can get going. The sun rising or not doesn’t change anything."
Catena nodded. "What must be done must be done."
Blac asked, "Can’t we take the mount too? We can’t? Oh. But why am I coming along? You can just leave me behind to look after the warriors."
The two Captains stood in front of them with wide eyes. They shivered as they looked at the trees lining the edge of their campgrounds. Was it them, or was there something moving in the darkness there?
Stallus ignored Blac and gave her instructions to the warriors. They were to keep their heads down and train, hard. Then they were to hunt all the novice monsters here; all of them must participate in the hunting!
They asked how long Azaroth and the others would be gone, and Stallus just shook her head. She’d like to know as well. With that out of the way, the Captains saluted and went back into the cave, where it was at least warm.
Stallus clapped gently. "Now we move. You’re asking me why you’re here, Blac, but it’s obviously to train as well! Are you trying to stay here and hunt novice monsters? We are going to look for the crypts that are breaking in the area!"
Blac blanched. That was exactly what he had been hoping for, but now he was going to be hunting monsters at his level? He didn’t like that one bit since he liked to play things with caution. He shook his head. He thought he knew their plans, but it’s obvious that he really didn’t know what Azaroth and his team wanted.
